Monday, April 15, 2013

Indestructible Hulk!

I spent the better part of yesterday lying on the couch, listening to Hawkwind on Pandora and getting caught up on Indestructible Hulk. Although I'm not one of those fanboys who follows artists from book to book, buying the title only as long as said artist is on said title, so I don't want to give you the wrong impression when I say the only reason I bought into Indestructible Hulk was because I heard Walt Simonson was signing on as artist as of issue six. Having said that, I literally bought into Indestructible Hulk because I heard Walt Simonson was coming in as of issue six. I feel like such a whore, but I digress.

Mark Waid, the writer, ranks among my favorites. He is, after all, the guy who gave us Kingdom Come, a brilliant but short run on Captain America and a long box full of Flash comics. His storytelling for Indestructible Hulk is rapid fire and a lot of fun, unlike some writers who like to linger for years on one stroy line. I won't say too much about the plot for fear of ruing it for anyone, but Waid's new take on Banner's change in attitude towards his alter ego is handled quite well, though it's sometimes hard to believe it's actually Banner talking. As is evidenced by the cover above, the Big Green Cheese gets a visit from Marvel's resident God of Thunder in issue six. I don't know who's idea it was to let Simonson draw Thor in his traditional, non-movie tie-in wardrobe that Simonson is famous for, but it was a good one.

As for the art in issues one through five, it's my humble opinion that Leineil Yu's talents are better suited for a more "reality based" comic book, something like Punisher or Daredevil. He just can't seem to make the Hulk "Hulk Out." He also has problem making people look distinct from one another. They all kinda look the same. And there's this nasty habit he had of drawing way too many single and double splash pages. That gets annoying after awhile and cheats the reader out of the hard-earned cash he had to plunk down for the book. Simonson's only shortcoming on the title so far isn't even his own fault. Just like when John Romita Jr. was drawing Thor back in the day, Simonson seems too restrained by page size. Simonson could've filled the book with a number of splash pages, but instead filled most pages with a staggering amount of panels.

Whether I stay with this book or not depends on if Waid can keep me entertained and who comes in after Simonson steps down. I don't really have a rating system for comics, but this one's on my "maybe/maybe not" list, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...